Violette AC

Violette

Full name	Violette Athletic Club
Nickname(s)	Le Vieux Tigre [1]
Founded	18 May 1918;105 years ago (1918-05-18) [2] [3]
Ground	Stade Sylvio Cator
Capacity	20,000 [4]
Coordinates	18°32′9.81″N72°20′32.79″W / 18.5360583°N 72.3424417°W / 18.5360583; -72.3424417
Chairman	Jean-Marie Fritz Henry [5]
Manager	Webens Prinsimé
League	Ligue Haïtienne
2020–21	Série d'Ouverture: 6th Playoffs: Champions
Home colours Away colours

Violette Athletic Club is a professional football club based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

History

Violette is one of the most successful clubs in the country. In 1939, Violette A.C. captured the double after winning the league and the Coupe d'Haïti.^{[ citation needed ]} They were awarded the 1984 CONCACAF Champions' Cup following the disqualification of two teams who had been planned to play a two-legged series to determine the North American participant in the final. ^[6] The club was relegated to second division after the 2016 Ligue Haïtienne season. ^[7]

The club has produced many Haitian international footballers, including Alexandre Boucicaut and Sebastien Vorbe.^{[ citation needed ]} Their home stadium, Stade Sylvio Cator, was damaged during the 2010 earthquake and later reopened for use. ^[8]

Violette won the 2021 Série d'Ouverture and qualified for the 2022 Caribbean Club Championship, ^[9] which they won while playing all of their home matches at Estadio Cibao FC in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, due to the ongoing political crisis. ^[10] They qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League and scheduled several friendlies to prepare for the competition, as the Ligue Haïtienne had suspended operations for the 2022 season. ^[9] Violette earned an upset 3–0 victory over Austin FC, a Major League Soccer club from the United States, in the Round of 16's first leg in the Dominican Republic. ^[11] Due to issues obtaining enough travel visas for the second leg in the United States, Violette temporarily signed several players from the lower leagues of U.S. soccer to serve as bench players. ^{[12] [13]} The team arrived in the United States with 14 total players—avoiding a forfeit—and lost 2–0 to retain their 3–2 aggregate lead and advance to the quarterfinals. ^[14]

Honours

• Ligue Haïtienne: 7

1939, 1957, 1968, 1983, 1994/95, 1999, 2020/21-O

• Coupe d'Haïti: 2

1939, 1951

• CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 1

1984

• CFU Club Championship: 1

2022

International competitions

• CONCACAF Champions League: 7 appearances

1969 – first round – Lost against Somerset Trojans 6–1 on aggregate (stage 1 of 3)

1975 – first round (Caribbean) – Withdrew against SV Transvaal (stage ? of ?)

1977 – third round (Caribbean) – Lost against SV Robinhood 1–0 on aggregate (stage 3 of 5)

1984 – CONCACAF Champion

1985 – Unknown results

1994 – first round (Caribbean) – Lost against CRKSV Jong Colombia 2–1 on aggregate (stage 2 of 7)

2023 – quarterfinals - Lost against Club León 6-2 on aggregate

• CFU Club Championship: 4 appearances

2000 – first round - Group B - 2nd place - 6 pts (stage 1 of 2)

2002 – second round - Group A - 2nd place - 4 pts (stage 2 of 2)

2009 – semifinal Lost against Puerto Rico Islanders 2–0 - Lost Third Place Round against San Juan Jabloteh 1–2

2022 – Caribbean Champions

Crests

• 
  The original Violette AC crest (1918–??)
• 
  The former Violette AC crest (???–2014). A slight modification of the original crest from light blue to blue and the words Honneur and Fair-Play added.
• 
  The current Violette AC crest (2014–present)

Current squad

As of March 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 4 MF   HAI Lutherson Merville 5 FW   HAI Jean Leriche 6 DF   HAI Wilmont Oracius 7 MF   HAI Jean-Fabrice Védrine 9 MF   HAI Steevenson Jeudi 10 FW   HAI Roberto Louima 11 FW   HAI Stevenson Guillaume 12 GK   HAI Steve Sanon 14 MF   HAI Shad San Millán 15 MF   HAI Lens Pierre

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF   HAI Dany Camille 17 MF   HAI Wendy Saint-Félix 18 MF   HAI Jhonny Parima 19 FW   HAI Fritzner Oslin 20 FW   HAI Miche-Naider Chéry 23 DF   HAI Denilson Pierre 27 MF   HAI Olivier Pierre 30 MF   HAI Elyvens Déjean 33 GK   HAI Paul Décius 77 MF   HAI Steeven Saba

List of coaches

• Antoine Tassy
• Philippe Vorbe
• Kênelt Thomas
• Georges Emmanuel
• Ralph Kernisan

References

1. Welt Fussball Archiv: Violette AC
2. Haiti Reference: Le Football Haitien: Équipes et Clubs
3. Haiti: Championnat National D1 2014
4. Press, ed. (26 October 2014). "CWC Final: All-Time Results & Scorers". CONCACAF. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
5. Press, ed. (3 February 2016). "Démission imminente du président du Violette" (in French). Le National. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
6. Lubin, Marshall (10 March 1985). "U.S. Soccer Alive and Well, a Visitor Assures". Newsday . p. 30. Retrieved 14 March 2023– via Newspapers.com.
7. RSSSF - Haiti 2016
8. Maas, Jimmy (7 March 2023). "For Haitian team playing Austin FC in the Champions League, the bigger challenge is off the pitch". KUT . Retrieved 14 March 2023.
9. Kloke, Joshua (13 March 2023). "From violence to visas, Violette AC has overcome a lot to represent Haiti in CONCACAF Champions League" . The Athletic . Retrieved 14 March 2023.
10. Gordon, Colby (7 March 2023). "Buoyed by win, Austin FC hopes to catch on with CONCACAF Champions League, too". Austin American-Statesman . Retrieved 14 March 2023.
11. Sigal, Jonathan (7 March 2023). "CCL shocker: Austin FC upset by Haiti's Violette AC in Round of 16". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
12. Gates, Billy (13 March 2023). "Austin FC opponent signs 4 players for 2nd leg of CONCACAF Champions League 1st round after visa denials: report". KXAN . Retrieved 14 March 2023.
13. Avila, Edoardo (14 March 2023). "Violette AC hace "fichajes" de última hora, por falta de visas, y para jugar Concachampions" [Violette AC makes last minute "signings", due to lack of visas, to play in CONCACAF Champions League]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2023.
14. Sigal, Jonathan (14 March 2023). "Austin FC can't "right the wrong" in historic CCL upset to Haiti's Violette AC". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved 14 March 2023.